


Working Through it

by Rebekah_Zellers



Category: NCIS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 09:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16059926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rebekah_Zellers/pseuds/Rebekah_Zellers
Summary: My dead air tag story





	1. Chapter 1

Abby paced in front of Gibbs desk like a caged animal. It had been two hours since the team had called stating they made an arrest. It had been ninety minutes since her arrival in the murder room, her heart pounding in her ears from both anger and heartbreak.

The ding of the elevator alerted her to the fact that the team had finally arrived. The forensic scientist stood back observing the team as they filed to their desks ready to write up their report and go home. Two steps and a turn later, the young woman was placing a bag of something on Tony’s desk with quiet instructions to brew it and let it sit to cool before drinking it.

Gibbs watched slightly amused as the sisterly interaction that Abby was presenting to his ailing agent. It wasn’t, but a minute before the woman turned to him and signed that he was to follow her. The elevator ride was conducted in silence; the doors to autopsy opened and Gibbs was shocked to find Palmer alone in the darkened room waiting for them.

“Agent Gibbs,” Palmer nodded as he turned his attention to the computer in front of him. The sound of Tim and Ziva filled the air; their voices carrying through the speakers as the recording of the afternoon played.

“Who else knows about this?” Gibbs pointed to the computer screen. “You tell Vance?”

“No,” Abby moved to stand where she could see her friend’s face. “I waited for you. What are you going to do with this?”

 

“Going for coffee,” Gibbs barked as he left autopsy and headed for the street. “This is why you’ve been so quiet, Tony.” Gibbs gut churned hard as he walked back from getting coffee; he had to figure out how to discipline the two agents that left their partner in a situation that could have gone bad quickly.

Palmer waited for Gibbs at the entrance; his face almost void of any emotion but his voice and words held it all. “Agent Gibbs, I know it’s not my place to speak to you about this, but Tony is someone I consider a friend. This case could have turned quickly; he could have been in real danger, Agent Gibbs, sir. If something happened to Tony; those two would be just as guilty as the person that hurt him.”

“I know,” Gibbs nodded. “I need to take care of the situation and Tony. Let me make a phone call; get this situation handled to some degree. Then Tony’s my priority; he’s quiet, too quiet.”

“Part is because he’s not feeling well,” Palmer quickly looked at the floor, knowing he’d given too much away. “He needs some sleep and some medicine. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to have him see Dr. Pitt.” Seeing Gibbs eyebrows rose almost to his hairline, Palmer quickly explained. “With his compromised respiratory system, it’s best to be overly cautious. I am sure Dr. Pitt would make a house call; they are pretty close friends.”

Gibbs watched quietly as Palmer made the call to Brad; his attention to detail when it came to Tony absolutely remarkable. With Brad briefed on the situation, Gibbs worked through his head exactly the next steps that it would need to get Tony somewhere that Brad could get to him while he was being cared for. Turning back to Palmer, Gibbs silently looked at the younger man for advice; a plan.

“It’s going to be tricky,” Palmer said softly. “He’s not going to want to be a burden to anyone; won’t want to deal with Tim or Ziva right now. I know him well enough to know that he is going to question where he went wrong that they would leave him with no back up. He’s not going to be happy to see Dr. Pitt either, but he will most likely take it better coming from me than anyone else.”

“Where did you tell Brad that we would be?” Gibbs questioned softly. “I was thinking about this mess; didn’t catch that part.”

“Your house,” Palmer smiled. “Tony relaxes there; it feels like family. When he’s sick, there are reminders of you all around to give him some security. He’s upset and sick so I bet he went straight to doing his report; while he could focus. I’m going to get my coat and Dr. Mallard; we will take him to your house and get him situated. Do whatever it is you need to do; I will go to the grocery store for you once you get home.”

Gibbs made his way into the squad room with Palmer and Ducky following closely behind. Walking to his desk, he paid no attention as the two men gathered Tony and his possessions before heading for the lift. McGee watched as Ducky gently took Tony’s pulse as they walked towards the elevator; listening as Palmer said something about Dr. Pitt meeting them. Had he somehow missed something? Did Tony get hurt in the explosion? Was his problem more than simple laryngitis? Looking towards Gibbs as if to ask a question, he was stopped by the look of anger that resided on the old man’s face.

“Tony is milking this laryngitis thing,” Ziva chuckled. “He appears to have Ducky and Palmer wrapped around his small finger.”

“Shut up, Ziva.” Tim snapped before turning back to his computer to finish his report. Tim’s mind was a jumble with guilt and concern; he recognized that he had taken part in something that could have cost his partner his life. Handing Gibbs his report, the junior agent gathered his things, made his way up the to the elevator unaware that Gibbs was following close behind.

“Something troubling you, Tim?” Gibbs questioned as he stepped into the elevator with his junior agent. Watching Tim squirm, Gibbs moved his hand to hover over the emergency stop; he was on the fence on whether or not to confront his agent. The ding of his phone telling him that Palmer was needing some help with Tony, in the parking lot, determined the outcome of what Gibbs was to do. “When you are ready to talk about this; call me. Don’t just show up on my doorstep this time; I need to go take care of DiNozzo.”

Tim followed closely behind; his concern for his partner growing with each stride. As soon as they stepped into the parking lot, Palmer could be heard trying to reason with the ailing agent. “You need to see Brad,” Palmer said in a forceful note. “You’re going to stay with Gibbs; get some sleep. You know the drill, Tony. Homemade soup and the aroma of sawdust making everything feel like you are with family. What is it you say about the couch? It’s comfortable and from it you can hear Gibbs sand on the boat; it’s the rhythm that helps you fall asleep. Pretty sure you need that right now, Tony. I think you need to go somewhere that your world makes sense; somewhere that you know you there are people that having your back.”

Gibbs stopped a few feet away listening as the younger man gave Tony a dose of hard love. Listening closely to the speech that left Palmer’s lips, Gibbs heart constricted at how much his presence meant in Tony’s life. He could only hope that his younger friend knew how much he meant to him. The moment led to a greater feeling of anger; he could be standing in autopsy over Tony’s dead body because of his team’s choices.

 

“Anthony?” Ducky called softly. “Will you allow us to take you to Jethro’s so that you can get some rest? I promise not to leave you alone with Bradley; I will stick with you every step of the way.”

“I’ll stick with him, Ducky.” Gibbs made his direction of Palmer’s car and bent down. “How about you let Jimmy take you to my house? I will be approximately fifteen minutes behind you; I promise. Don’t let Brad near you until I get there; I will make sure to be there as soon as I can. Go upstairs to your room; I won’t be working on the boat until you are breathing better. There are strict rules about the sawdust if I remember right.”

“You’re coming soon?” Tony’s voice was hoarse as he spoke. “Promise.”

“I promise,” Gibbs patted Tony’s leg. “Tony, I want you to know that I know what happened. I want you to trust me to handle it for you. What happened is not okay; you are worth more than that. I know it and I want you to know that I know it.”

“You said a lot of words,” Tony looked stunned by the speech Gibbs had just given. “You spoke two years’ worth of words in three minutes.”

“Okay, funny guy,” Gibbs tried to hide a smile. “You go with Ducky and Palmer; you better be changed and tucked in by the time I get there. If they give you any trouble; I want, you to call me.”

“If they give me trouble?” Tony looked confused. “Isn’t that backwards boss?” Tony’s throat was becoming more painful as the moments went by.

“No, I know that you know better.” Gibbs reached over and clicked Tony’s seatbelt before taking the blanket that was being handed to him and tucking it around his ailing agent. Once he was sure that he was warm enough, he took the bottle of cold water that suddenly appeared and put it in Tony’s hand. Once the younger man was settled, Gibbs stood to close the door.

“Tim,” Tony whispered as he looked down at the blanket and a bottle of water. “Thank you.”

“Boss,” Tim motioned towards Tony. “May I? Just for a minute?” Seeing a slight nod from Gibbs, McGee moved to kneel by Tony’s side of the car. “I’m sorry, Tony. I know better than to leave my partner without back up; I know better than to leave my friend in a situation in which he could get hurt. I’m not asking for your forgiveness or understanding; I just want you to know that I am sorry. I’m going to turn myself into Director Vance tonight; you don’t deserve what I did.”

“Tim,” Tony grabbed at McGee’s arm. “Why? I really don’t understand why you did it. Do you hate me that much?” Tony broke off into a hacking cough that left him gasping for air. Without even thinking, Tim undid Tony’s seatbelt and pulled him out of the car far enough to lean on him to ease his breathing. “Thanks, McGee.” Tony’s eyes started to close from being so exhausted.

“I’m going with him now,” Gibbs said firmly. “Go back inside; Burley should be here by now. He’s the acting team lead until we get back; you follow what Burley says.” Turning towards Tony, Gibbs studied his agent for a moment before situating him again in the car. “You go to Burley, McGee. He’ll go with you to see Vance.”

“Don’t let him off the hook,” Palmer jumped in.

“Didn’t say he was letting him off the hook,” Tony took a drink before continuing.

Palmer moved to stand by Tony’s side of the car. “You need to deal with it now or you are just going to keep rehashing it instead of getting better.”

“He’s right,” Tim nodded.

“You are suspended without pay,” Tony watched as McGee’s posture sagged with relief. “You will report to Director Vance in the morning after Gibbs has had time to brief him on the situation.”

“Take a breath,” Tim said softly as he opened a fresh water bottle and held it to Tony’s lips. “Let me get Agent Burley; he’s the current team lead.”

“Yes, he is.” Vance’s voice rang out from the shadows. “As team lead, he has already briefed me on what happened. I agree with Special Agent DiNozzo; you are suspended without pay. I will consult legal and see what our options are. I have already had Ms. David escorted out of the building, although she seems a bit confused as to why she is suspended.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Tim shrugged. “She does seem to comprehend things selectively.” Turning back towards where Tony was now dozing off in the car, Tim took a deep breath before turning to Gibbs. “Take care of him, Boss. He needs you; I mean really needs you.”

“Go home,” Gibbs grunted. “You should have had his six; may not be where we are right now.”

Tony was snoring softly by the time they pulled into the driveway at Jethro’s house. Palmer was able to get him in the house and up the stairs with Brad’s help. They had him changed and put to bed with a nebulizer mask before Gibbs got home. Taking the stair two at a time, the older man hurried to get to his younger friend’s side. He had made a promise that Brad wouldn’t touch him before he got there; he was letting Tony down.

“It’s ok,” Tony whispered under the mask as Gibbs moves to his side. “He didn’t hurt me, yet.”

“Don’t plan on hurting you, Buckeye.” Brad said softly as he lifted the blankets on the bed to put socks on Tony’s feet. “I’d like to be your friend that just happens to be a doctor, if you think that is okay.”

“I’d like that,” Tony nodded as his eyes slid back closed. As soon as he was in a deep sleep, Brad gently examined him even to the point of coaxing his mouth open to look at this throat. “His throat is raw; I imagine it hurts a lot. His lungs are a bit moist but nothing that would indicate pneumonia right now. We’re going to keep a very close eye on them though. He’s exhausted; I think right now a good sleep is what is needed the most. I’m going to sit with him for a while, Gibbs. You go get showered, changed and something to eat. You look beat.”

“You yell for me if he starts to wake up,” Gibbs narrowed his eyes in a gesture of expressing just how serious he was. “He’s had a rough few days; I need to keep my promise to him.”

Gibbs was able to shower, change, eat the food that Palmer placed in front of him while having a cup of much needed coffee before Brad called down to him. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s restless,” Brad commented softly. “You need some sleep; he needs some sleep. Why don’t you two just share the space; I am hoping that he will sense you are there and rest. I am going to take care of both of you right now.” Brad’s comment got a startled look from Gibbs before some instinct kicked in sending him just where Brad had suggested.

Nightmares plagued Gibbs; his mind cycling through all the things that could have happened to Tony on the undercover mission. Waking with a gasp; the older man quickly checked to make sure Tony was still sleeping. Moving to stand up; Gibbs startled slightly to find Palmer as his side with a glass of water in one hand and a cool cloth in the other.

“Take a few small sips,” Palmer said softly as he placed a cool cloth on Jethro’s neck. “You are okay; it was just a dream. If I had to guess, it was about anything and everything that could have gone wrong in that case.”

“Yeah,” Gibbs nodded. Looking towards Tony, he needed to make sure that his friend was still okay. “How’s he doing, Palmer?

“His fever is up a little,” Palmer said softly. “Brad went to get some different medication to see if we can get ahead of anything that could be brewing. I am going to stay the night and help Dr. Pitt; Dr. Mallard and Abby will be here in the morning to relieve us.”

“I’m going for a walk,” Gibbs handed the cloth and glass to Palmer. “Taking my phone; call me if he needs me.”

Gibbs stepped out into the cool, dark night trying to clear his head. He had only made it to the corner when Ziva appeared at his side. “I have been waiting for you to come outside so I could speak with you. I do not understand the reason that I am suspended.”

“You haven’t spoken with McGee?” Gibbs narrowed his eyes, trying to get a read on is suspended agent.

“I called,” Ziva reached out a hand to stop Gibbs from walking further. “He hung up on me; he won’t take any of my calls since. What did I do that has him so... so...”?

“Pissed off?” Gibbs finished.

“Yes,” Ziva sighed. “What is wrong?”

“Wrong?” Gibbs growled. “You left your partner without back up for hours so that you didn’t have to listen to him? Do you realize what could have happened? He could have been hurt or killed; neither of you would have known because you had the damn radio off.”

“Nothing happened to him,” Ziva defended. “He has a sore throat and a bruised ego; Tony is fine.”

“Special Agent DiNozzo is running a fever, battling some infection that we do not know what it is right now. However, that isn’t something that occurred because of the fact that you didn’t do your damn job. I find it rather disturbing that your partner is sick and you don’t seem to give a damn. Go home, David. I have other things to worry about right now than you and your current attitude problem.”

“Jethro?” Fornell caught up with his friend. “Need someone to walk with for a while?”

“I’d appreciate that Tobias,” Gibbs and Fornell set off back towards the house; walking past the driveway to extend their route a couple blocks. “How do I fix this team? I let it get out of hand; someone could have been hurt.”

“If it had been McGee or David instead of Tony, would you be this pissed off?” Fornell pushed his friend.

“I would be more so,” Gibbs snapped. “Means that Tony was the one that did this to them; I don’t think I could hide my disappointment to even deal with it if the roles were reversed.” It suddenly occurred to Gibbs that Fornell had shown up when he needed a friend leaving him a bit confused. “Why’d you come here in the middle of the night?”

“Your agent called me,” Fornell snorted at the confused look on his friend’s face. “Tony called me; he was worried about you. He sounded horrible, so I came right over in case you needed something. Why don’t we go check on him? He was coughing pretty hard when he was trying to talk to me.”

“Gibbs!” Brad was yelling as Jethro and Tobias entered the house. Taking the steps as fast as they could, both agents were infuriated to find Ziva in the room trying to get Tony to talk to her. “Get her out of here before I take your gun and shoot her.”

Fornell escorted the woman from the room and out the front door while Gibbs worked alongside Brad to quiet his sick agent. By the time he could join Tobias, the FBI agent was standing outside on the porch with Burley. “Gibbs,” Stan all but growled. “We need to get her sent off to FLETC. I am going to be meeting with the Director and legal to see what we can do about this situation. Now that she is a naturalized citizen, we have less bite on what can be done.”

“Boss?” Tony woke feeling like he had been hit by a train, but his gut was churning that Gibbs needed him. “Boss?”

“I’m right here,” Jethro hurried into the room. Picking up the bottle of water that Palmer had placed in a small bowl of ice on the nightstand, Gibbs helped his younger friend get a drink. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“No,” Tony leaned back into the pillows. “Gut said you needed me; what’s wrong?”

“You are running a fever,” Gibbs lied. “I’ve been worried about you.”

“Stop lying to me,” Tony’s eyes struggled to focus as the exhaustion threatened to pull him under. “Ziva showed up; didn’t she?”

“She did,” Gibbs sighed. “She has gone; Stan took care of it. For now, we are going to see about sending her through FLETC; that should give us some time to think this through.”

“What about McGee?” Tony dozed off mid-thought.


	2. Chapter 2

The palms of Tim’s hands were sweaty as he knocked on the door. Gibbs had called; asked him to come over to talk. By the time he arrived, he had himself worked up into almost a panic attack. He had already faced Tony the day before at the garage; he had spoken with Gibbs at that time too, so why did he feel like he was going to vomit.

“Tim,” Brad smiled as he answered the door. “Come in; Gibbs is upstairs with Tony. Why don’t you go up; it’s the second door on the left.”

“Why are you here?” Tim blinked, trying to focus. “Is Tony worse?”

“His condition is a bit worse,” Brad affirmed. “He is my friend so I am here as his friend more than a doctor. That doctor thing that I do comes in handy at times.” Moving into the kitchen, the loyal friend opened up the fridge and poured Tony a glass of juice. “Come with me; I will take you up so I can give Buckeye something cold to drink. His throat is raw; breathing hurts.”

“I’ll be back,” Tim said softly. “Please, tell them I will be right back. I need to get something before I go upstairs. I’m not chickening out or anything.” With the words spoken, Tim quickly made his way out the door with keys in hand. Brad was slightly stunned, but soon realized that the man that he knew from the battle with the plague was returning and had his friend’s well-being in mind.

“Where’d McGee go?” Tony’s voice sounded so painful.

“I’m not exactly sure, but he said he would be right back; he doesn’t want you to think that he is chickening out. Let me look at your throat, Tony. I can tell you are in pain when you talk or swallow.” Brad was gentle with his ministrations; his heart ached for his friend. “It’s pretty irritated; I know the throat spray makes you sick to your stomach, but do you want to try it?”

“No,” Tony groaned. “Can’t handle it.”

“He doesn’t need it right now,” McGee said from the doorway. “Try to get some of this down, Tony. I brought you up a spoon too. There are 3 more in the freezer along with some frozen yogurt and ice cream. I know it hurts; this should help numb it a bit so you can at the very least get some more sleep.”

Nodding his appreciation, Tony worked his way through the milkshake that Tim had given him. “You confuse me.” Tony’s voice cracked as he tried to speak. “Nice as long as there is no Ziva around.”

“I know,” Tim sighed deeply. “I can’t even explain it; she suggests something and I find myself tripping over my feet to do it. I know she was annoyed by you; I get annoyed, but I know why you do what you do. When you don’t do it; I miss it. There is nothing I can say or do, Tony, to make this up to you. However, I will work my butt off to regain your trust. Director Vance wants me to attend some classes at FLETC opposite of when Ziva does.”

“I want you in the squad room with us,” Tony croaked out. “I think the only way you and I are going to be able to work through this is to work together.”

“So whatever grunt work Vance gives you; it will be done at your desk. You will step and fetch while you are doing that; you are once again a Probie.” Gibbs continued what he and Tony had been talking about. “One more incident where you leave your partner’s life in danger; you are out of NCIS. You will not even be able to get a job picking up trash. Tony sees something in you; he’s the one asking that we keep you on the team. If it were my choice; you would be gone along with Ziva. After talking it over with Ducky, we feel that Director Vance’s relationship with Eli David does not exactly leave him objective to the situation.”

“So while ideally, the situation would be best handled with Ziva leaving the team.” Ducky made his way into the room. “We agree that doing so would make the team a target; worse, so then when Director Shepherd puts the team in peril with the decisions that ended her life.”

“Boss,” Tim took note of the exhaustion that was settling into his mentor. “Why don’t you go shower, shave and get a few hours of sleep. I will stay with Tony; I promise that I will take really good care of him. I will wake you up if he needs you. I have Ducky’s phone number in my phone and I will put Dr. Pitt’s number in there too.”

“I will be in and out,” Brad stated from the doorway. “He’s right, Jethro. Get some rest; you look like hell.”

Gibbs left Tony in Brad and Ducky’s hands with Tim close to help. His body needed sleep; his soul craved a break. Sleep came quickly; if he had been 100% he would have realized that the last cup of coffee that Ducky gave him was a bit off in taste. He heard nothing, he did not dream. For the first time in a long time, Gibbs slept a deep, restful sleep.

“Duck,” Gibbs grunted as he blinked up at his friend. “You drugged me.”

“I did indeed, my boy. You were exhausted and unable to get the rest you needed. I have watched you dream; Mr. Palmer has watched you dream. You are no good to yourself, our dear, Anthony or anyone else if you are exhausted.” Ducky handed Gibbs a fresh, not drugged cup of coffee.

“How’s Tony?” Gibbs strained to listen for sounds from across the hallway.

“His fever is down,” Ducky smiled. “He watched a movie with Timothy before falling asleep. He slept three hours before our beloved Abigail came over with beef stew. She cut it into tiny pieces so that our Anthony could manage on his abused throat. I will bring you some, my boy. You could use a good meal, yourself.”

“I’m going to check on Tony.” Gibbs swallowed the last of his coffee before heading to the bathroom to splash water on his face.

“Easy, Tony.” Tim’s voice could be heard coming from the bathroom across the hallway. “That’s it; almost done. I just need to rinse your hair and then we’ll get you dried off, bundled up and back into bed. Can you hang on a couple more minutes?”

“Feels good to be clean, Probie. Thank you.” Tony coughed but it wasn’t the deep, breath stealing cough from earlier. “Eucalyptus oils Abby gave us are soothing.”

“She’s disappointed that she didn’t get to be the one to help you with your shower.” Tim teased. “I can’t believe you actually let me help.”

“You’re not going to tell anyone.” Tony coughed. “I know that I don’t even have to tell you that; it’s not who you are.” Tim nodded a sense of pride bubbling in his chest; Tony did trust him at least a little bit. Chattering teeth pulled him from his moment as he hurried with the bathrobe and towels.

Working quickly to get Tony dry and warmed up, the young man started to become concerned as soon as he saw the exhaustion on Tony’s face. “Do you think you can sit right here and wait for me a minute?” Getting a nod, Tim patted his friend on the shoulder before hurrying into the hallway. “Boss, can you come lend me a hand?” Jethro followed his agent into the bathroom where he was hit with a strong smell of eucalyptus before seeing Tony lean heavily on the wall. “I am going to put his pajama pants and slippers on him; just hold onto him so he doesn’t fall.”

Working side by side, team Gibbs took care of their Senior Field Agent. Without a word, they dressed him and carried him across the hallway to bed. “That’s the easiest he’s been able to breathe since this started. What is in that stuff?”

“Something Abby whipped up,” Tim said with a smile as he blew his nose. “Think I need some for allergy season; I haven’t been able to breathe through my left nostril for four months until now. We didn’t use all of it; I only put a quarter of the bottle in the water that was gathering in the tub. If you can get him to drink that juice for me; I will go clean up the bathroom.”

Gibbs looked at the clock by Tony’s bed realizing that he had slept nine hours, leaving his friend in the hands of their Probie. “I didn’t mean to sleep so long.” Gibbs apologized only to have the Tony put a hand to his mouth. “That stuff Abby mixed up has you breathing easier.”

“He’s been great,” Tony smiled. “Abby, Palmer, Ducky, Brad and Stan have all been by to help too. You really need to have some of Abby’s stew, Boss. It’s fantastic. I think she is in the kitchen now making me cookies. Evidently, I said something about cookies in my sleep and she ran and got everything to make them and now she is baking them with Palmer and Brad.”

“You’re getting spoiled,” Gibbs teased.

“He deserves everything moment of it,” Abby said with a giggle as she rushed in to kiss Gibbs on the cheek. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Bossman. Don’t be mad at Ducky, you really needed the sleep. It gave us an opportunity to help Timmy see the error of his ways. He’s really taken good care of our Tony boy though; he’s been great.”

“Bathroom is cleaned up,” Tim interrupted. “How about a milkshake?”

“You should take a break, Tim.” Gibbs encouraged. “I’ll watch over him.” Gibbs watched the mix of emotions play of Tim’s face; he deflated almost visibly in front of the lead agent. “Why don’t you get a shower and changed; we’ll take Tony downstairs and we can watch a movie together. I bet you are both getting tired of these walls.”

“I will go get my bag out of the car,” Tim smiled. “Give me twenty minutes to shower; I will get Abby started on snacks for the movie.”

“Why’d you give Tim the chance?” Gibbs questioned with curiosity. “What he did; could have gotten you killed.”

“When Kate was killed,” Tony’s eyes filled with tears. “You were on your mission to find Ari and Kill him. You didn’t know that Tim had a hell of a time going to see Kate; he was afraid of what he would see. The amount of respect that he showed her; the love that he showed her still resonates with me. We were us, Team Gibbs, before Ziva came along. The things we have seen; the things we have been through. I don’t know what would have happened to me after Kate died if it hadn’t been for Tim. I was in a bad place; he went beyond being my partner, he was my friend.”

“You were still sick,” Gibbs commented softly. “When Kate died; you were still sick with the plague.”

“Tim watched over me on the plane ride to Indiana; he bunked with me at the hotel that night so that he could help me if I got into trouble. He was by my side without letting anyone know that he was by my side. When we got back; he took me to the pet store.”

“That’s when you got your goldfish?” Gibbs smiled with pride.

“No, Kate got me my fish when I was recovering. He took me to buy a nice bowl, the pretty rocks and plant. We got top of the line fish food; all the necessities to clean her bowl and keep her healthy. He bought me a book about being a fish parent. It was his way of making sure I was not left alone. He was one sly guy, but it saved me from myself at a time when I really just wanted to die.” Tony watched Gibbs for a moment before continuing. “When I pulled you and Maddie from the river; Tim made sure I went to the hospital to get checked out. He called Brad; Brad met me at my apartment and took me in so I could get checked over. Tim was already at the hospital with a change of clothes for me and some food. He stopped by my apartment for clothes between the crime scene and coming back to NCIS.”

“He’s a good guy,” Gibbs nodded. “Just gets caught up following the ring leader.”

“For now,” Tony smiled. “Someday, he will be the ring leader. Probie is going to do big things at NCIS, Boss. We just have to help him grow to do it.”

“Guys,” Tim stepped into the room. “There is a bowl of stew ready for you, Boss. There are blankets and pillows on the sofa ready for you, Tony. I can help you get downstairs if you want.”

“We’ll work as a team,” Gibbs commented. “Together, we’ll get him down there.”

“A team?” Tim blinked back the tears that stung his eyes. “I would love that.”

“Team Tim,” Tony whispered. “We are a team.”


End file.
